The
San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic
mountain rangeA mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
located in north central
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, just north of
FlagstaffFlagstaff is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2010, the city's population was 65,870. The population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area was at 134,421 in 2010. It is the county seat of Coconino County...
.
The highest summit in the range,
Humphreys PeakHumphreys Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Arizona, with an elevation of and is located within the Kachina Peaks Wilderness in the Coconino National Forest, about north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Humphreys Peak is the highest of a group of extinct volcanic peaks known as the...
, is the highest point in the state of Arizona at 12633 feet (3,850.5 m) in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an eroded
stratovolcanoA stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...
. An
aquiferAn aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
within the
calderaA caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
supplies much of Flagstaff's water while the mountain itself is located within the
Coconino National ForestThe Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...
and is a popular site for outdoor recreation. The
Arizona SnowbowlArizona Snowbowl is an alpine ski resort located on the San Francisco Peaks, 7 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona. The Snowbowl is a long-standing center of controversy regarding its effect on Native American sacred sites and religious practices...
ski area is located on the western slopes of Humphreys Peak, and has been the subject of major controversy involving several tribes and environmental groups.
History
The San Francisco Peaks have considerable religious significance to thirteen local
American IndianNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes (including the Havasupai,
NavajoThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
,
HopiThe Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
, and Zuni.) In particular, the peaks form the Navajo sacred mountain of the west, called . The peaks are associated with the color yellow, and they are said to contain
abaloneAbalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
inside, to be secured to the ground with a sunbeam, and to be covered with yellow clouds and evening twilight. They are gendered female.
For the Hopi people, the San Francisco Peaks are associated with the
cardinal directionThe four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...
southwest, constitute ritually pure sacred spaces, and are used as sources for ceremonial objects. The alignment of the sunset from the Peaks to Hopi villages on Black Mesa is used to calculate the winter solstice, signifying "the beginning of a new year, with a new planting season and new life." The peaks are seen as the home of the katsinam or
KachinaA kachina is a spirit being in western Pueblo cosmology and religious practices. The western Pueblo, Native American cultures located in the southwestern United States, include Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Village , Acoma Pueblo, and Laguna Pueblo. The kachina cult has spread to more eastern Pueblos, e.g....
spirits, ancestors who have become clouds following their death.
Katsinam are invited to Hopi villages to serve as ethical and spiritual guides to the Hopi community from midwinter to midsummer.
Aaloosaktukwi or Humphrey's Peak holds particular religious significance and is associated with the deity
Aaloosaka, a symbol of the Two-Horn Society, a religious group among the Hopi dating to the occupation of the
Awat’oviAwatovi Ruins is a National Historic Landmark in Navajo County, Arizona, United States, designated in 1964. In 1540, Coronado's men visited this village. What remains are the ruins of a five hundred year old pueblo. There are also ruins from a Spanish mission built in the 17th century...
village on Antelope Mesa. Depiction of the peaks in association with calendar-keeping is attested in a kiva at the Hisatsinom settlement of Homol'ovi, which was occupied between AD 1250 and 1425; katsinam imagery dates to the thirteenth century as well. Other Native American peoples also relate
KachinaA kachina is a spirit being in western Pueblo cosmology and religious practices. The western Pueblo, Native American cultures located in the southwestern United States, include Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Village , Acoma Pueblo, and Laguna Pueblo. The kachina cult has spread to more eastern Pueblos, e.g....
spirits to heavy snowfalls on the Peaks.
In 1629, one hundred and forty seven years before
San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, received that name, Spanish friars founded a
mission at a
HopiThe Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
Indian village in honor of
St. FrancisSaint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
, sixty five miles from the Peaks. 17th century
FranciscanMost Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s at Oraibi village gave the name San Francisco to the peaks to honor St.
Francis of AssisiSaint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
, the founder of their order.
The
mountain manMountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through the 1880s where they were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains...
Antoine LerouxJoaquin Antoine Leroux, aka Watkins Leroux,was a celebrated 19th century mountain man and trail guide based in New Mexico. Leroux was a member of the convention that organized New Mexico Territory.-Biography:...
visited the San Francisco Peaks in the mid-1850s, and guided several American expeditions exploring and surveying northern Arizona. Leroux guided them to the only reliable spring, one on the western side of the Peaks, which was later named Leroux Springs.
Around 1877,
John Willard YoungJohn Willard Young was a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He is one of the few individuals to have been an apostle of the LDS Church and a member of the First Presidency without ever having been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.-Early life and apostolic...
, a son of the Mormon leader
Brigham YoungBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
, claimed the area around Leroux Springs, and he built Fort Moroni, a log
stockadeA stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.-Stockade as a security fence:...
, to house railroad tie-cutters for the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, which was then being built across northern Arizona.
The biologist
Clinton Hart MerriamClinton Hart Merriam was an American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist and ethnographer.Known as "Hart" to his friends, Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855. His father, Clinton Levi Merriam, was a U.S. congressman. He studied biology and anatomy at Yale University and...
studied these mountains and surrounding areas in 1889, describing a set of six
life zoneThe Life Zone concept was developed by C. Hart Merriam in 1889 as a means of describing areas with similar plant and animal communities. Merriam observed that the changes in these communities with an increase in latitude at a constant elevation are similar to the changes seen with an increase in...
s found from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the summit of the mountains, based on the factors of elevation, latitude, and average precipitation. He designated their characteristic flora, as follows:
- Lower Sonoran Zone - Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
plants
- Upper Sonoran Zone - Pinyon and Juniper woodlands
- Transition Zone - Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
forests
- Canadian Zone - Mixed Conifer Forest
- Hudsonian Zone - Spruce-Fir or Subalpine Conifer Forest
- Arctic-Alpine Zone - alpine tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
Merriam considered that these life zones could be extended to cover all the world's vegetation types with the addition of only one more zone, the tropical zone. His pioneering studies remained one of the most widespread climate zone classifications, in use for nearly 80 years.
In 1898, U.S. President
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
established the San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve, at the request of
Gifford PinchotGifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service and the 28th Governor of Pennsylvania...
, the head of the U.S. Division of Forestry. The local reaction was hostile—citizens of
Williams, ArizonaWilliams is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States west of Flagstaff. Its population was 2,842 at the 2000 census; according to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,094. It lies on the route of Historic Route 66, Interstate 40, and the Southwest Chief Amtrak...
, held a significant protest, and the
Williams News editorialized that the reserve "virtually destroys
Coconino County-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*61.7% White*1.2% Black*27.3% Native American*1.4% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.1% Two or more races*5.2% Other races*13.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
." In 1908, the San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve became a part of the new
Coconino National ForestThe Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...
.
Outdoor recreation and controversy
The mountain provides a number of recreational opportunities, including wintertime snow
skiingSkiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and
hikingHiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
the rest of the year. Hart Prairie is a popular hiking area and Nature Conservancy preserve located below the mountain's ski resort,
Arizona SnowbowlArizona Snowbowl is an alpine ski resort located on the San Francisco Peaks, 7 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona. The Snowbowl is a long-standing center of controversy regarding its effect on Native American sacred sites and religious practices...
.
In 2002, the Arizona Snowbowl proposed a plan to expand the ski resort and begin
snowmakingSnowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun" or "snow cannon", on ski slopes. Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliability of their snow cover and to extend their ski...
using
reclaimed waterReclaimed water or recycled water, is former wastewater that is treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and used in sustainable landscaping irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers...
made of treated
sewageSewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
effluentEffluent is an outflowing of water or gas from a natural body of water, or from a human-made structure.Effluent is defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as “wastewater - treated or untreated - that flows out of a treatment plant, sewer, or industrial outfall. Generally refers...
. A coalition of Indian tribes and environmental groups sued the
Coconino National ForestThe Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...
, which leases the land to the ski resort, in an attempt to stop this proposed expansion, citing serious impacts to
cultural practitionersCultural practice generally refers to the manifestation of a culture or sub-culture, especially in regard to the traditional and customary practices of a particular ethnic or other cultural group. In the broadest sense, this term can apply to any person manifesting any aspect of any culture at any...
, public health risks, and environmental concerns.
In 2011, construction began on a wastewater pipeline to the Peaks. In response, there has been an ongoing series of protest actions including demonstrations, encampments, and multiple lockdowns in which protesters have locked themselves to construction equipment. Notable protesters include
NavajoThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
musician
Klee BenallyKlee Benally is the lead vocalist and guitarist of Navajo punk rock band Blackfire. Benally is also an activist, artist, silversmith, and filmmaker. He also performs traditional Navajo dances and is a champion fancy war dancer.-Background:...
, singer/guitarist for the
punk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band
BlackfireBlackfire is a Navajo traditionally-influenced, high-energy, politically-driven musical group composed of three siblings: two brothers and a sister...
, who has been arrested twice since protests began.
Geography
The four highest individual peaks in Arizona are contained in the range:
- Humphreys Peak
Humphreys Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Arizona, with an elevation of and is located within the Kachina Peaks Wilderness in the Coconino National Forest, about north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Humphreys Peak is the highest of a group of extinct volcanic peaks known as the...
, 12633 feet (3,851 m)
- Agassiz Peak
Agassiz Peak is the second highest mountain in U.S. state of Arizona at . It is located in the San Francisco Peaks within the Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona. The peak was named for Louis Agassiz, the celebrated naturalist....
, 12356 feet (3,766 m)
- Fremont Peak
Fremont Peak is in the San Francisco Peaks of northern Arizona. It is the third highest point in the state of Arizona. The peak is within the Coconino National Forest and the Kachina Peaks Wilderness...
, 11969 feet (3,648 m)
- Aubineau Peak, 11838 feet (3,608 m)
- Rees Peak, 11474 feet (3,497 m)
- Doyle Peak
Doyle Peak is in the San Francisco Peaks of northern Arizona and is the fourth highest peak, but the sixth highest named point in the state of Arizona with an elevation of 11,460 feet. Both Aubineau Peak and Rees Peak are higher, but they do not have enough prominence from their neighbors to be...
, 11460 feet (3,493 m)
The San Francisco Peaks are the home of the only
alpine tundraAlpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...
environment in Arizona, the only place where the
threatenedThreatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
San Francisco Peaks groundselPackera franciscana is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name San Francisco Peaks groundsel, or San Francisco Peaks ragwort. It is endemic to Arizona in the United States, where it is known only from the San Francisco Peaks in Coconino County. It is...
(Packera franciscana) is found.
Names in local languages
—(
NavajoNavajo or Navaho is an Athabaskan language spoken in the southwestern United States. It is geographically and linguistically one of the Southern Athabaskan languages .Navajo has more speakers than any other Native American language north of the...
)
- Nuva'tuk-iya-ovi—(Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
)
- Dził Tso—Dilzhe’e—(Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
)
- Tsii Bina—Aa'ku—(Acoma
Acoma Pueblo is a Native American pueblo approximately 60 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States. Three reservations make up Acoma Pueblo: Sky City , Acomita, and McCartys. The Acoma Pueblo tribe is a federally recognized tribal entity...
)
- Nuvaxatuh—Nuwuvi—(Southern Paiute)
- Hvehasahpatch or Huassapatch—Havasu 'Baaja—(Havasupai)
- Wik'hanbaja—Hwal`bay—(Hualapai
The Hualapai or Walapai are a tribe of Native Americans who live in the mountains of northwestern Arizona, United States. The name is derived from "hwa:l," the Hualapai word for ponderosa pine, "Hualapai" meaning "people of the ponderosa pine"...
)
- Wimonagaw'a—Yavapai
Yavapai are an indigenous people in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai were divided into four geographical bands that considered themselves separate peoples: the Tolkapaya, or Western Yavapai, the Yavapé, or Northwestern Yavapai, the Kwevkapaya, or Southeastern Yavapai, and Wipukpa, or Northeastern...
- Sunha K'hbchu Yalanne—A:shiwi (Zuni
Zuni is a language of the Zuni people, indigenous to western New Mexico and eastern Arizona in the United States. It is spoken by around 9,500 people worldwide, especially in the vicinity of Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, and much smaller numbers in parts of Arizona.Unlike most indigenous languages in...
)
- 'Amat 'Iikwe Nyava—Hamakhav—(Mojave
Mojave is the native language of the Mohave people along the Colorado River in eastern California, northwestern Arizona, and southwestern Nevada...
)
- Sierra sin Agua—(Spanish
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
)
- The Peaks—(Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
) Arizonans
Source:
Further reading
External links